The Ministry of Public Health (MPH) last year returned or destroyed more than 5mn tonnes of foodstuff that did not meet Qatar standards, it was announced yesterday.
A total of  2.59bn tonnes of food items imported into the country were inspected by the ministry  at  various ports of entry during 2015.
While 2.2mn tonnes of the foodstuff were returned to the country of origin because they did  not comply with  the set standards,  2.9mn tonnes were destroyed for being unfit for human consumption.
As part of the ministry’s food safety campaign, 7,162 random samples were taken from the  cargoes that arrived in  the country and sent to the Central Food Laboratories where they were subjected to several tests that resulted in accepting 6,527 samples and rejecting 635 samples for various microbial, chemical and physical reasons.
MPH statistics issued yesterday revealed that the Doha seaport with around 901.5mn tonnes topped the other entry points in the country in food imports. Of this, 897.6mn tonnes were admitted and approved while 1.4mn tonnes were rejected and re-exported for non-compliance. In addition, 2.4mn tonnes were destroyed for non-compliance with the set specifications or being unfit for human consumption.
Abu Samra Border Post came second with 898.36mn tonnes. After tests conducted on samples, 898.35mn tonnes were allowed into the country and 704 tonnes re-exported for non-compliance and 445.8 tonnes destroyed for not being fit for human consumption. The air cargo terminal at Hamad International Airport came third with 738.3mn tonnes. After tests,  8.9 tonnes of these were re-exported and around 24.8 tonnes  destroyed.
Al Ruwais Port, which was inaugurated last year, received 216.9 tonnes of imported foodstuff  during November and December 2015.
The foodstuff that were re-exported for non-compliance last year included 1,392 boxes of  bread, 1,224 boxes of tomato paste, 1,872 boxes of juice, 149 boxes of pickles, 2,326 boxes of various foodstuff  and 151 packages of honey. All were rejected due to non-compliance with the set health standards, such as the means of transportation, use of non-standard artificial ingredients, or lack of proper data. Besides, food labels that contained words such as “pork”, “wine” and other banned substances were rejected.
Among the destroyed food items were 4,700 boxes of spices, cakes, chicken, drinking water and cooking oil. In addition, several fish and meat cargoes were  destroyed after changes in their natural physical properties were detected. Other destroyed foodstuff included juices proven to contain a percentage of alcohol.
According to market sources, the MPH inspection of  imported foodstuff is considered highly efficient and accurate.